Lenovo's Pocket Projector is an affordable way to pump videos to your wall (or ceiling)

By Phil Nickinson
published

Whether it's in the kids' play room or the boss' boardroom, the Lenovo Pocket Projector is a quick, easy and affordable way to up-size videos for group viewing.

It used to be the only folks who carried around those little pocket projectors were those who got paid to do it — road warriors who have to be able to give presentations whenever, wherever. And they were either big and clunky, or smallish and expensive. Lenovo's got the best of both worlds in its Pocket Projector, making its debut at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Lenovo Pocket Projector

The whole thing's about 4 inches by 4 inches and about an inch thick. It's nicely curved, so it's not horrible on the eyes. It's powered by microUSB and has a battery for about 2.5 hours of playback. Stereo speakers on either side of the projector mean this is a self-contained unit, or you can use the 3.5 mm audio jack to get the sound into something bigger. (The speakers are just OK, not really surprising for something this small.)

The projector supports DLNA and Miracast, so it'll work with Android, Windows 8.1 and compatible iOS apps as well.

You can raise the projector itself either at an angle (the lens will correct for that) or all the way to vertical, for watching movies on the ceiling, perhaps. The 50-lumen projector will throw the 480p images up to 110 inches wide.

And if you're looking to grab something like this to watch movies with the kids away from the living room, it's not going to break the bank at $249. Time for Frozen on the ceiling, folks.

The Lenovo Pocket Projector will be available later this month.

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Lenovo Pocket Projector
Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days. Subscribe to the Modern Dad newsletter!

66 Comments
  • 4 inches? Pocket? What?
  • I'm sure cargo pants could contain these. For everyone else, I think this is a bag unit.
  • But regular pockets... But anyway, I would SO whip this out during class and, well, movies/games.
  • Pray tell what you would whip out of your pants during class....you didn't exactly define it"....lol
  • And at 4 inches, wowee.
  • Actually, that is upper "flaccid" average. Tis true...
  • I'd also like this for school, but the resolution is killing me. 480p in 2015, making my skin crawl.
  • Agree.
  • I'm just tired of hearing affordable because of the connations it emanates...as in affordable flagship.
    ...
    Just say it is what it is..cheap.
  • Your comment is so affordable
  • Not sure how to reply...but, it is creative. I'll give you that. :)
  • Have to agree, work harder on your studies and get a propped job with a good pay.
  • Did, Ph.D., College Director...happy you agree....sometimes things just need to be very, very clear.
  • +1940
  • Even with a good paying job I would not purchase a $250 pico projector that has a maximum resolution of 480p.  I bought a gently used full size 1200p for less!  Had great picture quality too :)
  • When in Australia? :-)
  • Do people "pump videos" there? This is only for video pumpers, I'm afraid.
  • LOL
  • Or even project it to their butt. xD
  • A screen is a screen, I suppose...
  • I was intrigued until I saw 480p. I'm sorry, but that's already barely tolerable on 4 inch smartphones, no way I'm blowing that up to 110! I understand that choice was made to make it affordable, but at the very least, they could've given more options. 720p, minimum.
  • Agreed. I'm not a specs whore, but 720p would make this so much more worth it. For your average Joe I can't see much use for it then, for businesses I can.
  • If you're in sales, and making sales calls, imagine the sales pitch you can muster by pulling this out when travelling around making sales calls on clients. I can see a use for it there, but not too much else. For a conference room, you need a real projector, or, better yet, a Surface Hub.  You might argue that using it on the tent's wall to watch a movie while camping is a good use, but what's the use of going camping and getting back to nature if you're THAT addicted to technology? Enjoy the camping and put the projector away. Watching a movie on the ceiling? Not if you've got old "popcorn" ceilings. Haha!
  • A sales pitch for what, Minecraft? 480p at 110" (or even half that) means you better be using some really big fonts if you want them to be readable. I'd have gladly paid an extra $50-$75 for 720p, but the low resolution is a deal-breaker. Really a shame, this looks like an otherwise great product.
  • Yep, windows works from 720p on, so this would be only for multimedia purpose, not useful as second screen
  • Good point. I wonder if it scales down higher resolutions at all to get around this?
  • I think its just a quick and dirty prop.
    ....
    Some of us have seen a heartwarming commercial with a phone and a projector, a family in a tent, streaming a movie on the tent wall. I think this is a good scenario for this gadget...cartoons, not say, something flashy like Transformers or age of Ultron....
  • Indeed, I don't think anyone is expecting anything professional or high end from this. But something as simple as a resolution bump to 720p would be perfect, I'd be willing to pay more for a higher tier.
  • Agree swim(someone who isn't me x 2), at least 720p.
    ..
    Actually some are expecting more...there must be a reason....I don't know it and anything would be speculation.
  • 480p is really the standard for these kind of devices. I've seen 1280x800 if you're willing to hand over $400+ but most in this range are 800x480. If you want full 1080p then I've seen 1 device close to $1000. Some cheaper devices advertise 1080p because they accept that signal but their native res is still 480p.
  • Pump it!
  • Louder!
  • Holla...
  • Pump up the jam, pump it up!
  • Any pictures or proof of it in action?
  • Ask Cortana to show to some videos
  • Sweet, a whole new way to watch porn, lol
  • Good man.
  • Actually, a modern twist on an old way...think off to the side dirty old theatres maybe in the early 70's...idk, I was born in 76, but they existed.
  • Sweet
  • Nobody realised no support for Windows Phone, this along with no Epson iProjection app is just urgghh.
  • Read again. It has Miracast.
  • Newest firmware support Miracast, plus a number of older models had DNLA support.
  • My icon supports Miracast. Works great too. Streamed Netflix really well.
  • I meant to say Lenovo haven't mentioned WP at all. Also we don't have the Epson iProjection app.
  • 480p is so 2000 late. I suppose it'll work for business use. They're definitely not targeting home users or super hi def or even 720p use case for the matter. It falls short on the resolution side. perhaps gen 2 will be better.
  • 50 lumens, no thanks. For an extra $50 you find several on Amazon with 125-150 lumens and higher resolution.
  • Does it come with complimentary adware?
  • Haha, advertisements on your projector screen :D ProjectorFish(tm)
  • Hehehehw
  • Well just hope it doesn't come bundled with any additional "fishy baggage" :P. Joking aside, I guess it would be fine for text and bar charts but movies at 480p...not really sure about that.
  • I wonder if you can play movies with it, and what is the quality and frame rate of this through miracast with winodws phone?
  • 480p... So it takes your documents are destroys them in order to fit them into that resolution right?
  • 50 lumens? Would that even reach the ceiling?
  • Nice. i want one
  • It's Lenovo, probably has a hidden camera in it or shows adverts.
  • "Superfish, now on your walls!"
  • 480p is crap, and 110" at 50 lumens??? Lol. In pitch black darkness my 500 lumen pj is dim that large. Why do companies like to brag about huge throw size when it will look like crap? At 50 lumens, I would say 30" is about as big as you would wanna throw. Which is respectable for a pocket pj at under $500.
  • So, what happens when the bulb burns out? I hope there's an extended warranty of some kind.
  • I would assume it uses LED (seeing how small and dim it is), and so probably won't need to be changed during the projector's lifetime.
  • I've had a nice BenQ led based pico projector for years now, but the 50 lumens is really really weak. The room has to be super dark, or you gotta project close to the wall which really limits the size. I was hoping by now they could pump out more like 150 lumens.
  • Pico projectors are for impromptu business presentations, or at best having a little fun on a trekking trip where you cannot carry a full projector. For everything else, thats  a waste of 249 bucks !!
  • Be fun for a little car camping trip. Pop it onto the side of the tent and voila!
  • OMG So Expensive?!
  • At least HD for that money and it would be a better buy.
  • I've been wanting to update my TV experience in the bedroom, but have been waiting a bit and looking at my options. This has me intrigued at the idea of projecting the image on the ceiling and just watching it flat on the back in bed at night. Hmm.....